Deer Day 9 - Thursday 17 OCT

It rained most of the day, but cleared off in the late afternoon.  I took the opportunity to hit the woods by myself.  Headed out at 4:00 pm and walked directly to the tree farm - no one to chat with made the trip go quickly.  Since the woods was wet, sneaking was easier than having dry conditions.

As I walked along the road, I bumped one deer off Bailey's bottom ground, right next to the tree farm.  It was a small doe, I was on the road, and it was property we did not have permission to hunt.  Needless to say, no shots taken.

I stalked N of Bailey's house and sat in the woods along the bottom of the bean field.  The squirrels were out and the walnuts were falling.

I caught something walking along the top of the ridge line, but since it was behind trees, it was difficult to tell how big it was - maybe a deer, maybe a coyote, maybe a cat.  From the bird alarms, I think it was a cat.

This one bird, which I could not locate, would not shut up.  Got the squirrels barking too.  It was annoying enough that I grabbed a couple of walnuts and threw them in its general direction - to no avail.

And the crows, I do not know what they are calling about, but they are ubiquitous and noisy.

Usually, it's pretty peaceful and quiet in the woods.  I have said before, but don't know if I've put it in writing, that I am closer to God in the tree stand than in any building built by man.  Now what I mean by that is, in the tranquility of the woods, it's easy to commune with the Good Lord.  That's our time.  Me, Nature, and God. Just ask Thoreau, Whitman, and Hawthorne, they know what I'm talking about.

Well tonight, that was tough with all the noise.  It did quiet down about Golden Hour (one hour to last shooting light when all the deer start moving).  I saw some cardinals and a peregrine falcon as well.  But, no more deer were seen.

I called it quits about 7:15 and started my walk out.  I hit the road by 7:30 and called the Pizza King for dinner.  We may not have deer in the freezer to feed the tribe, but there's always Pizza King.

Kids are coming up Friday evening for an early morning hunt on Saturday.  Supposed to be raining.  We'll see who the 'true' hunters are then...


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